Horror of 59: Not looking to be rock stars.

When Horror of 59 first formed about four years ago, singer Bob Noxious wasn't even in the band. Known for the horror-movie fanzine Utter Trash he edited, the guy was exactly what the horror-rock band, at the time led by a guy who called himself "Embalmer," needed.

"I was on this punk-rock message board called Cowboy Club when I was doing Utter Trash, and somebody posted "horror-rock band needs vocalist,'" Noxious recalls one afternoon at the Free Times office. "I didn't know if I wanted to be in a full-time band or not. Turned out that I liked the music. The whole album had been recorded expect for my parts. I came up with vocal melodies and changed a few lyrics. But I really had no input on that first album."

That album, Screams from the Cellar, created enough of a local stir that the band gained some momentum going into its second album, The Golden Age of Sin, just out on the new local imprint Shark Attack (in conjunction with My Mind's Eye). But before Golden Age, which was produced by Abdullah's Jeff Shirilla, was released, there were more line-up changes, with the band falling out with founder Embalmer. The line-up, now including bassist Jimmy Dale Killmore, guitarist Tommy Horror, guitarist Tommy Roulette and drummer Brent Bastard in addition to Noxious, stabilized only recently.

"They're two different things," Noxious says of the band's two albums. "The first one was much more of a Misfits rip-off. It also had some Ramones and a little tiny bit of heavy metal. It was nothing that unique, but I still like it and the fans enjoy those songs. With the second album, everyone contributed to the writing. It's more of a group album, and our own sound. I hate having to pigeonhole our sound. It's all hard, aggressive rock that's horror-themed. We want to give ourselves room to go off in realms other than zombies and serial killers."

"To me, [Golden Age] is different from the first because the band is so well-tuned," adds Bastard, who's accompanied Noxious to the interview. "There was no arguing. We saw a different direction and went for it. It was smooth."

That "different direction" isn't quite apparent from the album's opening track, which opens with Noxious belting out "let the horror begin." But the band does explore a variety of grooves, taking a psychobilly approach on "Die My Way" and "Lycanthrope," and going for straight-up rockabilly with "Bloodstains and Dirt." And to top it off, the album's got terrific cover art to go along with the music. Graphic artist Mitch O'Connell, whom Noxious met through his 'zine, did the drawing that features a Bettie Page-like pin-up surrounded by caricatures of various ghouls and monsters.

"I wanted a retro look to it," Noxious says of the cover art. "The vibe was classic '60s sexploitation and burlesque. I told him the concept which was a nightclub with celebrities of that time. It came out better than I hoped for."

The band's goals are modest. It hopes to play regionally and book a few more shows like the one coming up on March 15. Billed as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre," the show pairs the band with horror-rock bands Grave Robber and Rockabye Ransom, and features the Pussyfoot Girls' burlesque show.

"We're older guys," Noxious says. "We're not looking to be rock stars or even a mid-level national touring band. But thanks to the Internet, we have people from Germany, England and South America ordering our CDs. We have fans all over the world, in part because we're a niche genre and people who like horror rock look us up."

"We're respected and people like us," adds Bastard. "That tends to keep the train rolling."

St. Patrick's Day Massacre: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 15, The Sachsenheim, 7001 Denison Ave., 216.469.0340. Tickets: $7.

Sidekicks

So Long, Soggy Dog (Red Scare Industries)

myspace.com/sidekicks

The typical press release that accompanies an album's release shamelessly extols the band's virtues and attributes praise you'd normally reserve for religious leaders. This new Sidekicks release came with a one-sheet that did just that, only with a sense of humor that will make you laugh out loud. The Lawrence Arms' Brendan Kelly authored the document and boasts the album sounds like "a bunch of bearded pissed guys in the Midwest having the greatest goodbye party of all time." He's definitely on the mark. Right from the opening notes of "Panic! San Francisco," it's apparent the Sidekicks have that same kind of energy you would have found on Epitaph roster some ten years ago when Bad Religion and Pennywise were still making albums that mattered. Singer-guitarist Steve Ciolek sings his lungs out in "Team Volcano," "Wife Swap/Sled Riding" and "Go! Go! Go! Green! Green! Green!," songs you'll want to learn and sing and pump your fist to. The other members of the band - drummer Matt Climer, bassist Josh Henry and guitarist Brandon Petrick - play as if they're channeling the Clash via Op Ivy. The songs don't even suffer from their sparse production, ably handled by Jimmy Frysinger at "his apartment," as it's put in the liner notes. This is a rewarding, energetic album, right to the very end, which comes courtesy of the somber ballad "Steve Smith, Coal Miner, Jr.," a tune that shows the guys can be sensitive without getting soft. - JN